Unruly Chinese goalkeeper apologizes for outbursts
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Wang Dalei |
The Chinese goalkeeper who called fans "morons" and "a bunch of dogs" after his team's 3-0 loss to Japan made an official apology to "the country's soccer fans and reporters" on Wednesday.
"First, I want to say 'thank you' for the 14 players who fought to the end to win the game," Wang Dalei said in a press conference after his side outlasted Kyrgyzstan 2-1 in a Group A game in the night.
The first-choice keeper in China's opener against Japan didn't start in Wednesday's game after he had been "suspended and ordered to meditate on his action" by the Chinese Asian Games delegation in the afternoon.
The 21-year-old goalkeeper caused an uproar as he responded to criticisms of China's loss with outbursts filled with expletives on his Twitter-like microblog.
Now, the hot-headed boy seemed to calm down.
"I'm sorry for my 'microblog things'. I want to say sorry for all the fans and reporters in China," he said.
"My childish and irresponsible words harmed the image of my team, the delegation and China's sports."
"And I also pleaded to all the fans, especially the fans hurt by my words, to forgive me this time. Please understand me. We were not easy (in the tournament)," he added.
Chinese media blasted at the team's poor performance in their Asian Games opener on Monday, singling out Wang as one of the worst players.
Wang, who had once been linked with Italian giant Inter Milan, was especially blamed for Japan's second goal that he tried to save.
A national TV commentator compared Wang to a "volleyball setter", saying his save was amateur.
One day later, Wang reacted by filling his microblog on a popular Internet portal with angry outbursts, calling Chinese soccer fans "morons" and reporters "haters of Chinese soccer".
"I didn't use dirty words. If you think I did, that's your problem," said the unrepentant Wang after Tuesday's training for the Kyrgyzstan game.
On Wednesday, Wang finally lowered his head.
"My apology is not a show," Wang stressed in the end, adding that, "It's my genuine apology to everybody."
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